By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
What do you do in today’s world when someone asks you to sign an important legal document and you don’t know how to connect all of the letters?
This commentary has nothing to do with naturalized American citizens who came here from another country. My focus is on native born citizens who are growing up in homes across America that are located in states and local school districts where cursive writing is no longer part of the curriculum.
Needless to say, I was shocked recently when I handed one of my grandsons a legal document that required his signature and he whispered that he didn’t know how to write his name but he would print it on the signature line.
When I accused him of teasing me about not being able to write in cursive, his response hit a nerve with me and he was embarrassed.
“Papaw, I don’t like to tell other people that I can’t sign my own name but it’s the truth because I was not taught how to do it in school,” he said as he printed his name on the document.
It concerned me even more when I saw that his printed name could easily be duplicated by someone in grade school. Losing cursive instruction in elementary school must really be appreciated by criminals who forge checks and other important documents as part of their criminal enterprise.
It didn’t take long for this old reporter to find out that cursive started disappearing in 2010 when something called the Common Core State Standards was adopted by most U.S. states with the goal of better preparing the nation’s students for college or a job.
The Common Core standards didn’t include cursive in the recommended curriculum, and instruction on this form of penmanship was erased from the schools.
However, I’m proud to report that Kentucky is among five states that currently have legislation pending that would return cursive writing to the required course of study. Another 20 states already have reinstated cursive.
Once everyone can legibly sign their name, we’ll start working on spelling.
(Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com).
